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THE FIELDHOUSE – Three of the pieces are in place, now all Frank Vogel has to do is find his final assistant to complete his coaching staff.

Vogel was introduced as coach of the Pacers on Wednesday during a press conference that didn’t reveal a lot since team officials are not permitted to talk about players due to the current NBA lockout.

Vogel and Larry Bird both said they hope to be able to announce the rest of the coaching staff next week. Brian Shaw will be the associate head coach and long time assistant Dan Burke will be on Vogel’s staff.

Vogel interviewed former University of Utah coach and NBA assistant Jim Boylen for the final assistant job earlier this week.

Vogel would have been named coach weeks ago but Bird was adamant that he wouldn’t hire him before he found a quality lead assistant.

“My thing with the number one assistant is that he has to have experience, he has to be around players he had problems with and how he dealt with them,” Bird said. “(Vogel) interviewed some good ones.”

I’ve talked to number of people about Shaw and they’ve all said positive things about him.

Shaw was an assistant on Lakers teams that had the Kobe-Shaq feud, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest.

The Pacers locker room, which had its fair share of issues last season, shouldn’t be a problem for Shaw.

“Frank is a better coach than I ever thought about being, but we can’t have those locker room issues again and we won’t,” Bird told Bob Kravitz. “That’s not the head coach’s job. That’s the assistants. Those are fires they’ve got to put out right away. Communication is a must – with some players, daily. If they sense a player is down or isn’t doing what he needs to do, it’s the assistants’ job to address it, and if it continues, then take it to the head coach. Assistants have to take a lot of tough stances. So you have to have a staff that all the players respect.”

Two question:

1. Do you like that Bird hired Vogel or do you think they should have went with a more experienced coach?
2. What do you think of Shaw as associate head coach?

twitter.com/MikeWellsNBA

I'm thrilled that Shaw is going to be the associate head coach. From everything I've read, he should function very nicely as the guy in charge of keeping out potential locker room fires, that sort of thing. Having the guy "everyone" thought was going to be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers as your associate head coach is a big, big win IMO.

I like what I've heard so far about Jim Boylen as well. If he's the other guy to go with Shaw and Burke, that's a very nice, compact staff to go along with Frank, who I obviously have come to like a lot as well. I'm pretty damned happy with this staff at this point, overall.

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Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

My answers to the questions posed by Wells:

1 ) I think that Vogel was option B with Bird's preference for a more experienced Coach ( as some have suggested Adelman ). This may explain why it took so long to name Vogel as the Head Coach.
2 ) Shaw is a good choice by Vogel and Bird. Not much else to say.

Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

1. Yes, I'm thrilled that Frank is now the official coach. I do not have to remove my avatar now.

2. I think Shaw is a great idea for a lead assistant. If for some reason Frank is not up to the task I have a feeling that Shaw could step right in and take over.

As to do I think that Frank was ever not the front runner or option A? No, I believe that this was always his job with the way the season ended & his playoff run (funny saying that as we were almost swept by the Bulls but we all know what I mean) only solidified that. If some need to think that we wanted Adelman to get through the day, more power to you. IMO, nothing more than lip service was done in thinking about another coach. It makes sense where we are player wise, it makes sense from a money standpoint as he will not cost even what they were paying Satan probably (which really just tells you how messed up salaries are at all levels) & frankly as long as we don't nose dive it will make a giant P.R. sense as well. He is young, well spoken, upbeat & yes I know we shouldn't do this but you know dang well the media will play it up in the future but he and Brad Stevens will be compared to each other and as long as they both do well the locals will eat that up.

Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

Very good details and explanations about the s.o.p. for personnel issues. Now the wait makes much more sense.

I think it was a legitimate question on whether or not Vogel would be able to bring in some good assistants. The league seems like a fraternity, but Vogel's only been around the O'Briens and Pitinos in the NBA. He's had a ton of experience with a very small circle of guys; all who were probably out of the assistant coach running before the search began.

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Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

I pretty much agree with what Cable said.

One reason I'm excited about Shaw is that he and Derek Fisher were reportedly the only guys in the Lakers organization that would stand up to Kobe. It's also said that Kobe respected him for that and was on record for wanting Shaw to be the next head coach. I think that bodes well for us.

One reason I'm concerned is that Vogel, in the presser yesterday, said that the offense would look much the same as it did at the end of last year. If I had to choose a word to describe our offense at the end of last year, I'd have trouble choosing between "putrid" and "atrocious". I was willing to excuse this because of Vogel's lack of true practice time with the team. If - and this is a big "if", I know - he gets a full training camp and we're still running 3 unsuccessful PnR's to start every possession, it's going to make me sick.

Wow, thanks for sharing that. Even if the Pacers only get to keep him for one season (if there is a season) before he moves on for a head coaching gig, I dont think there's any doubt he'll leave a lasting and positive impact.

Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

One reason I'm concerned is that Vogel, in the presser yesterday, said that the offense would look much the same as it did at the end of last year. If I had to choose a word to describe our offense at the end of last year, I'd have trouble choosing between "putrid" and "atrocious". I was willing to excuse this because of Vogel's lack of true practice time with the team. If - and this is a big "if", I know - he gets a full training camp and we're still running 3 unsuccessful PnR's to start every possession, it's going to make me sick.

I would argue that the plan/system of offense was fine, the problem was the player execution of the offense especially the pick and rolls. George Hill will help that a lot.

Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

One reason I'm excited about Shaw is that he and Derek Fisher were reportedly the only guys in the Lakers organization that would stand up to Kobe. It's also said that Kobe respected him for that and was on record for wanting Shaw to be the next head coach. I think that bodes well for us.

One reason I'm concerned is that Vogel, in the presser yesterday, said that the offense would look much the same as it did at the end of last year. If I had to choose a word to describe our offense at the end of last year, I'd have trouble choosing between "putrid" and "atrocious". I was willing to excuse this because of Vogel's lack of true practice time with the team. If - and this is a big "if", I know - he gets a full training camp and we're still running 3 unsuccessful PnR's to start every possession, it's going to make me sick.

Melli, I think that the structure of his offense will be the same. The difference is there will be more plays that work off one another. Vogel had said he was using plays from JOB's playbook initially, but he was calling much different plays than JOB ever did. Vogel will add variety to base plays and will add plays that compliment each other well. His inbounds plays will be much better than JOB's, no matter how bad they are.

I think there will be a priority in feeding the post to Hibbert. They will mix in some pick and roll and pick and pop situations as well. I think we will see a lot more off the ball movement next year, though, because there will be an off-season, although short, to get the guys on the same page with the cuts/plays/offense. I think he will preach passing like JOB did, but it will be way more conducive to winning basketball by making the defense react (and fewer but more effective three point shots). I think he will really push hard for our entire team to hit the boards, especially offensively. I PRAY that Foster is leading some team workouts closer to the season on how to rebound better. Our offensive rebounding stats were horrendous in JOB's system. I can't remember how many times I saw a three with nobody under the basket to try to rebound. It always seemed to be Hibbert (or JMac/Hans) on four. I hope we bring back Josh and have the PGs work with he and Hans in the pick and roll. Hibbert also, but with Hibbert I want to see pick and rolls that are more vertical where the picks are being set free throw extended so Collison doesn't get to Hibbert before he is set. Then he doesn't have to roll as far and his jumper will be taken from about 12-15 instead of 18-20. Brad Miller ate us alive last year, because they set vertical pick and rolls, but were a little further out so they could take advantage of Collison's horrible PnR defense and Hibbert's lack of foot speed.

I can't wait to see how our defense looks going into next year. Especially if we add a defensive presence to the front court. Josh has made huge strides defensively since he has come here. I think it is very important for us to bring him back. He needs to get stronger though. I think Vogel will tune up the defensive intensity and our young guys will be better than last year, so there will not have to be a bunch of gimmicky, forced rotations. I think Brandon needs to be here, because he brings a lot to the second unit and he and DJones will be excellent defensively. I think if we are looking to push the tempo of the game with our second unit and take advantage of our depth, then a trade of BRush or DJones is imperative. I prefer the goon squad style of second unit where they don't score. I think Stephenson would be a good fit at PG with BRush and Jones, so they can offset his defense and Stephenson can play with the ball in his hands while the other two work off of him. I really see Stephenson as our backup PG this year. He needs to make the biggest strides of anybody defensively though. That is the carrot I would dangle in front of him. George Hill will obviously be the first person off the bench, but I think Hill might allow us to trade Collison if Stephenson pans out.

So, it sounds like the bigger issue was the assistant coaches not having a big enough impact last season. Is that likely due to McCarty and Potapenko not really being able to get a firm hand on the locker room?

So, it sounds like the bigger issue was the assistant coaches not having a big enough impact last season. Is that likely due to McCarty and Potapenko not really being able to get a firm hand on the locker room?

I think it is more likely due to inexperience - knowing when to address something before it gets to the point where it is noticeable isn't easy, and considering we heard some of the locker room problems existed while Frank was lead assistant then it means we can't just throw the other assistants under the bus. I think it says a lot that Bird recognizes where the experience to handle this kind of thing has to come from - he didn't just dump Frank because of not having it, he had Frank go out and find what he needed to fill in his own gaps.

BillS

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

I think it is more likely due to inexperience - knowing when to address something before it gets to the point where it is noticeable isn't easy, and considering we heard some of the locker room problems existed while Frank was lead assistant then it means we can't just throw the other assistants under the bus. I think it says a lot that Bird recognizes where the experience to handle this kind of thing has to come from - he didn't just dump Frank because of not having it, he had Frank go out and find what he needed to fill in his own gaps.

Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

I would argue that the plan/system of offense was fine, the problem was the player execution of the offense especially the pick and rolls. George Hill will help that a lot.

I hope you're right. The player execution will also be helped by Vogel having more practice time to drill the correct execution into the players.

The main problem that I had with the offense is that it never seemed to involve more than 2-3 players in the play at once, and that the end result was usually a player having to create their own shot against a fairly set defense. It seemed like there was one option for each player, and when that option didn't work out, it became a free-for-all.

I'm willing to give Vogel the benefit of the doubt because I was pretty impressed with the adjustments he made during the playoff series against the Bulls.

Re: Mike Wells blog on today's Vogel announcement

I would argue that the plan/system of offense was fine, the problem was the player execution of the offense especially the pick and rolls. George Hill will help that a lot.

I don't know that Hill will help out with that. The PnR wasn't unsuccessful because of Price and Collison. For all the negative talk about them, they are both pretty good at playing the PnR.

The PnR was unsuccessful because Hibbert wasn't good at setting picks (I don't think he liked the contact) and Hansbrough would move out of it too quickly. Then when the PnR is played with Josh and Foster, you still effectively only have one option (AJ or DC) because it's not like Josh and Jeff are going to score. And NBA defenses knew that.

Our more successful ones where the Granger/Point guard ones.

George Hill isn't going to be able to fix the problem with our post players, so unless he's going to be setting the picks..he won't do much.

Hopefully, whatever post player we add will be good at that. And hopefully we'll have assistant coaches helping.

I agree though, in general, I didn't like the offense. I know Vogel tried to simplify it, and I was okay with that. But it needs to get better. He said he wanted an offense like the Celtics. THAT is a good idea. And hopefully he instills that. Vogel learns very quickly from other coaches, so I don't think he'll have a problem teaching it.